


Save Me

by RoguePrincessDanie86



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Post Ep. 17x11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-19 11:16:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22243543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoguePrincessDanie86/pseuds/RoguePrincessDanie86
Summary: After the case, Nick is haunted by his Darkside and Ellie saves him while Nick bandages her hand.
Relationships: Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres
Comments: 1
Kudos: 44





	Save Me

Save Me

Nick Torres stood by the large bay window and watched the lights across the navy yard. The case was over. Ziva was on her way to Paris. McGee went home, Gibbs and Sloan walked Phineas and his family out. Nick breathed a deep breath; however, it felt strangled. The anger at Victor still surged. All the years that Nick had worked on his passion and kept his dark side in check. It came rampaging back, and the only thing that prevented him from slipping back to the undercover persona, the scared man who only reacted never felt, much like a boiling pot simmered, then overflowed. He had killed before, and his country sanctioned it, but that didn’t take away the bitter taste it gave him. For Victor, though, he would suffer through it. Mixed into the distaste were the echos of voices of teens who he was unable to save. They called to him like the siren’s song, and Nick felt drawn to it. 

Ellie Bishop came up the stairs from consulting with Jimmy. She bruised her hand and wrapped it. Thankfully it wasn’t broken. Just badly bruised. And luckily, she was a little ambidextrous, so switching sides wouldn’t be a problem. She saw Nick watching the window, and suddenly felt all the emotions she felt when Gibb had just come back from Paraguay. She wanted to take away his hurt. Gibbs, she wrapped in a hug, but Nick was a different story. Nick was that ball of emotions that made her feel like a school girl staring at her crush. Ellie never felt the connection she felt with her coworker with anyone else. Their bond was unique, magnetic. Ellie found times where she felt unsure, and suddenly there was Nick, either too close or glancing across the room. Nick was that steady force that kept her tethered to the ground like gravity. 

However, her anchor was storm-battered after the latest case.

Ellie girded her heart and walked forward to the Agent whom she cared so much about and gently reached out her hand. Nick jumped at her touch and turned and gave her a haunted look. Ellie knew she would need to be a blacksmith tonight and repair his brokenness. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Ellie asked quietly. 

Nick glanced at the window and again, and Ellie saw that Nick replaced the facade of happy go- lucky class clown. Ellie knew he wasn’t okay, and suddenly she felt the way she felt when he got in a fistfight at the painting workshop.

“WHat’s your plan for tonight?” Ellie asked. 

“Probably just go home and sleep. Or at least try to sleep. Hope the voices don’t haunt me.” Nick responded. 

Ellie moved her right hand from Nick’s shoulder down to his hand and squeezed. “Come on; you are coming with me. We can order dinner and watch movies. I can make my favorite cookies.” 

Nick looked at her skeptically and went along as she dragged him to the elevator. Nick’s bag was by his feet, and Ellie grabbed his bag and hers. However, she winced when the strap hit her bruised hand.

The ride to Ellie’s brownstone was uneventful, Nick just stared out the window, and Ellie navigated to her house. Once on her street, she put the car in park and helped Nick with his stuff. 

They entered her apartment, and Nick immediately went to the couch and sat down. He was staring at the blank tv. 

Ellie called up their favorite place with burgers and got their favorites. She then started her cookies and kept an eye on Nick from her kitchen. Nick fell asleep on the couch and the timer beep. Ellie was distracted and used her unbruised hand to grab the hot cookie sheets. As her brain registered the roasting pan, she dropped it on the counter, sending cookies everywhere. 

“Ouch!!!” Ellie gasped, trying not to wake up Nick. And she started running cold water over her hand. As she glanced at her hand, she saw the skin tighten and blister. Her thumb, forefinger, and purlicue were burned. Her quiet was unsuccessful because Nick heard her and awoke from his nap.

“Elle?” Nick called from the living room. He showed up in the kitchen a few seconds later to see Ellie rinsing a burned hand with tears filling her eyes. “What happened? Did you burn your hand.”

“I was not paying attention. It was stupid.” Ellie said and kept her eyes down as if she was a child in trouble. Nick clasped her hand and led her to the bathroom. Inside Ellie’s brightly lit bathroom and sat her on the toilet lid. 

“Where are your first aid supplies?” Nick asked, and Ellie pointed to under the sink. Nick pulled out a carefully organized first aid supplies. Nick started with her bruised hand.

Gently wrapping Ellies, a hand with soft gauze. Making sure it was bound to tight but taking care to keep the cuts clean from dirt. 

“Ellie, you really must have smacked Victor really hard. Your knuckles on this hand will be sore for a few days. And Sit tight, I have something for you burned hand.”

Nick got up and left for a few minutes. He came back with a glass jar filled with homemade cream. Ellie looked at him and then held out her hand to examine the pot. Nick went to work on her burned hand.

“You have a homemade burn cream that you carry around in your go-bag?” Ellie asked as Nick slathered her hand and wrapped it as if it was a particular package. 

“Aloe Vera, Lavender Oil, Vitamin E, and Honey. My mama’s recipe for burn cream. Whenever I go home, I have her refill it for me. It’s also a great moisturizer. “ Nick said the nonchalantly.

“ You never mention your mom. How often do you go visit her?” Ellie asked quietly. 

“I visit her every January. Around dia de tres Magos,” Nick said equally as quietly and suddenly avoided her eyes. 

Ellie squeezed his hands. 

Nick finished wrapping her hands and looked up at Ellie and finally asked the question that had been burning his brain. 

“Hey, Ellie? How did you know I wouldn’t punch Victor?” Nick asked as he pulled into standing into a position. 

“I just knew that you wouldn’t hurt me,” Ellie said confidently. 

“ Ellie, you are the only thing that saves me. On the darkest nights, when I was in Afghanistan, I would take apart every memory I had of you so that it was exactly how I remember. But I am scared that my Darkside will drag you down and drown you. I know you have been hurt before.”  
Ellie cupped his cheek and said, “I learned a long time ago. That anything worth doing has more risks than rewards. You have become my anchor. That person, when everything goes crazy, you are the calm one. That calm voice in the wind which pushes me forward. “

Ellie slipped her hand around Nick’s neck very gently, and leaned forward, pressed her lips to his and kissed him gently. The kiss was warm, gentle, and felt like Home. 

“Nick, will you be my life, mate? Marriage, husband, anything but just the person who stands next to me for the rest of our lives.” Ellie asked quietly, “Or whatever we are but stay partners. “

Nick smiled and kissed her again and responded, “Yes to everything. However, we make life.”

Ellie hugged him in a long embrace. 

Nick went home after watching a movie and picked Ellie the next morning.

Once in the car, “How do you want to play this?” Nick asked.

“I’m going to walk in arm and arm. We are going to grab this bull by the horns and have no secrets. If Gibbs has a problem with it, he can fire us. And if that happens, I call Pride, and we relocate to New Orleans, or I call Hetty, and we relocate to LA. We have options. No Secrets” 

Ellie and Nick walked in arm and arm (because Ellie’s hands were injured). Nick carried Ellie’s stuff, and McGee glanced at them and smiled at the happy couple but then noticed Ellie’s hands.

“What happened to your hands?” McGee asked.

“I was baking cookies and burned it. Nick helped me wrapped it.” Ellie responded, and Nick smirked and went to work. Gibbs saw them and slightly smiled. He would address it on another day.


End file.
